Under the Undergrowth
by Doubletrouble14
Summary: Sportacus and Robbie Rotten are out in the forest looking for the source of the monsters, and encountering many along the way. They get more and more hostile, and Robbie's at his breaking point. Can they make it through to save the town? My lil attempt at a horror story. SPORTAROBBIE, of course. Rating will be changed in the future. (dramatic reverb)
1. Day One

A/N: Hello peoples! This is a wonderful frightening fanfiction that my sister and I have been working on for a while. ((Hallo, I am de sister, yas :3)) aaaaaanyways, just thought I'd post more Sportarobbie for all of you and this plot is pretty flippin' groovy if I do say so myself. Please read and review, my sister and I would appreciate it a lot.

Disclaimer: Sandwich belongs to my sociopathic sister and so do the monsters. Magnus owns Lazy Town and I own nothing except most of the plot. This fanfiction is kind of inspired from Slenderman, Among the Sleep, the Blaire Witch Project, and Lazy Town. Weird combination. I don't own any of those either, heheh. SLENDERMAN WITCH PROJECT AMONG THE LAZY SLEEP

DAY ONE

High up in the sky, Sportacus flipped to the right wall of his airship and kicked a hidden pressure point which launched an apple across the room and right into his hand. "The most important meal of the day!" he chirped, munching enthusiastically on his apple. Suddenly, the crystal on his chest flashed a bright light and screeched. "Someone's in trouble!" he shouted, and then he commanded his door to open. It complied, and he flipped out with his hang glider/back pack into Lazy Town below.

"What's going on?" he called as he landed in front of a panicked mass of people. Milford, the mayor of Lazy town, stopped panicking and turned to Sportacus.

"Oh, Sportacus thank goodness you're here! The most dreadful thing happened!" he exclaimed. Before Sportacus could respond, Stephanie spoke up.

"It was awful, Sportacus!" she cried, "Trixie and I were out playing hide and go seek in the forest when this…this thing…this monster… it tried to kill us, Sportacus!" Sportacus embraced her and she cried into his shoulder.

"It's okay, Stephanie… it was probably just an animal!" he said.

"No… that wasn't an animal. It was a monster! It was so tall, and thin, and it had humungous wings and red eyes and it was all dark… like a shadow! It…" Trixie sobbed. Her voice drifted away as she began her descent into hysterics. Sportacus grabbed Trixie's hand with his available arm and pulled her close. The two girls cried into his shoulders for a while, until he pulled away and looked at them both.

"I'll tell you what," he began, "I will go into the woods and check it out and see if there's anything abnormal there, okay?" he finished.

"No!" Trixie and Stephanie shouted simultaneously. He smiled reassuringly at them.

"Don't work, I'll only be gone for a few minutes, okay? I'll even let you keep my crystal here in case I'm in trouble." The girls reluctantly agreed and Sportacus flipped off into the trees.

In the woods, Sportacus stood up straight and adjusted the empty badge on his chest. Then he began to walk, being careful to only choose paths he knew and to not lose his way. As he walked, he looked around for anything out of the ordinary. In a nearby tree, a bird chirped and he was startled and jumped. Then he laughed and shrugged it off. The kids talking about shadow monsters had made him a little bit tense. Since he was an elf, he knew exactly what the demonic things were, but also knew that they would never go anywhere near Lazy Town unless they sensed a large source of magic, and as far as Sportacus knew, he was the only one with magic. He remembered the first time he had encountered one of the monsters, back in his elf village when he was just a kid.

_"Marcus, wait up!" 8 year old Sportacus shouted, running after his older brother, through the forest that surrounded his village. Marcus stopped and looked around, gaping at the scenery. _

_ "Marcus… we're not supposed to be here," Sportacus warned. Then, for good measure, he added, "Momma wouldn't be very happy if she knew we went so deep into the forest." Marcus laughed and ran his fingers through his younger brother's hair like he always did. _

_ "You little scaredy-cat momma's boy, what're you so afraid of… trees?" he taunted, running even deeper into the forest. Sportacus looked around. Momma wasn't going to be happy about this. He ran after his brother._

_ "Wait up, Marcus!" he yelled again, and then as he rounded a corner, he ran straight into Marcus and fell backwards. "Marcus, we're going to get in…" Sportacus stopped as he saw the thing that made Marcus stand still. A vaguely human-shaped silhouette with glowing red cat-like eyes, bat wings, and a tail stared down at them. It was pitch black and incredibly thin. It smiled a fang-filled, blood red, malicious smile at the two children. Suddenly, Marcus turned around and ran, screaming something unintelligible that sounded suspiciously like profanities. The monster screeched a high-pitched banshee scream and flew after Marcus at the speed of light. "Marcus!" Sportacus screamed, running after his brother as fast as he could. He watched as the black monster engulfed Marcus in his long, twisted arms and the two rolled to a stop. Everything seemed to slow down as Sportacus watched the monster open his mouth, its fangs glistening in the sunlight that shone through the canopy of trees, and move closer to his brother's throat…_

_ Suddenly, Sportacus's mother Aya burst through the trees and blasted the monster with a bright, white light of Holy magic. The monster shrieked and flew away faster than it had chased Marcus. Aya stood in front of Marcus and helped him to his feet. "Marcus, what do you think you're doing?!" she yelled. He looked down sheepishly. _

_ "Well, I… I thought it would be cool if I…"_

_ "Cool?! You almost got killed! What if I hadn't been there to save you?!" she screamed. Then she turned to Sportacus. "I almost expected this from Marcus, but you, Sportacus? What were you thinking, following him into the forest!?" Sportacus looked down at his feet and bit his lip to hold back the tears. _

_ "I'm sorry…" he mumbled. Then he heard her sigh and looked up. _

_ "I love you both, but adults tell you kids to not do certain things for a reason, okay?" the kids both nodded. "I suppose you've both learned your lesson. Let's go home," she said. The two brothers nodded again and followed her out of the woods. _

Sportacus sighed as the memory resurfaced, and decided that there wasn't anything in the woods around Lazy Town, and even if there was, Sportacus had picked up enough holy magic from his mother to scare them away. As long as there was only one. Sportacus emerged from the woods a moment later and smiled at the kids.

"There's nothing in there," he said as he took back his crystal and returned it to the proper place. Trixie and Stephanie looked up at him before Trixie spoke up.

"You weren't there long enough to see it, Sportacus. I asked Pixel to look it up on the internet, and it usually doesn't appear unless you're really far from the town. Stephanie and I saw one when he was… patrolling, I think," she said. Sportacus remembered this from when he was a child.

"Why are the shadows there?" Stephanie asked.

"They kind of wander around when they're searching for heavily populated place or a person with strong aura," Sportacus answered.

"What's an aura?" Trixie asked. Sportacus thought back to what he had learned in elf school when he was just a kid.

"'an invisible emanation produced by and surrounding a person or object: alleged to be discernible by individuals ofsupernormal sensibility', or at least that's what they told me in school when I was just a kid," he said.

"Sportacus you have to get rid of those things!" Stephanie shouted. Sportacus looked back to the forest, and then he smiled at Stephanie.

"If you want me to, I'll go out and camp in the forest for a few days and go as deep as I can, okay?" he said. Stephanie smiled a little bit.

"You can't go alone!" Trixie exclaimed. Sportacus thought for a moment. He couldn't endanger one of the kids, and there was no way he was camping out with , and the mayor was… well, he was the mayor. The only other adult was Robbie and Sportacus highly doubted that Robbie would want to go camping in the middle of the woods for a few days with him. But then he couldn't leave the town alone with Robbie since Robbie was a villain and all. Plus, Robbie did live alone underground and getting out for a few days would probably be good for him.

"I'll bring Robbie with me!" Sportacus chirped. Everyone looked at him skeptically.

"…Sportacus are you really sure that'll work?" Stephanie asked. He nodded.

"It'll be fun!" he said.

"…Well, I suppose if that's what you think, you go ask him to go with you," the mayor said. Sportacus nodded again and flipped off in the direction of Robbie's lair.

"You want me to _what?!_" Robbie exclaimed, his cloudy grey eyes staring right into Sportacus's sky blue ones. Sportacus smiled.

"It's just to help the kids feel better… I'm sure there are no actual shadow demons," he said.

"No. No, no, no. Nooo. I won't do it," Robbie answered.

"Aw, please, Robbie? Stephanie is letting me borrow her really cool orange tent and some sleeping bags. I'll let you use the pink one," Sportacus pleaded.

"I don't want to use the pink one! I don't want to go camping!" Robbie shouted. Then he added, "And if you're leaving town like I've told you to forever I want to be here to witness it!"

"That's another reason I can't let you stay, Robbie," Sportacus reasoned.

"Why would anyone want to go chasing shadow demons? The only reason I can think of is…" Robbie trailed off. He remembered when his dad had done some studying on these kinds of things when Robbie was a kid, and he remembered that if you capture one, they trade their freedom for a wish. Robbie smiled. "Okay, I'll do it. I guess," he surrendered. Sportacus's face lit up like the fourth of July.

"You won't regret this, Robbie. It's going to be so much fun!" Sportacus said, and then he squeezed Robbie in a giant hug. Robbie was surprised and he lost footing and fell down the tube into his lair. "Don't worry about packing tents or sleeping bags, I'll take care of that and meet you at the park in 30 minutes!" Sportacus called down the tube, and then he skipped away.

A half hour later, Robbie trudged unhappily through the gates that led to the park and looked around. The whole town was there to wish Sportacus a happy journey. Oh goodie. He reluctantly waddled over and stood next to the hero who had a large pack on his back that appeared to have everything one might need while camping. Everyone looked at him for a moment, before the mayor spoke up.

"Well, Mr. Rotten, on behalf of the whole town, I'd like to thank you for going on this trip to help keep all of us safe," he said. Robbie almost felt good knowing he was doing something to benefit the community and it scared him. He was a villain, right? He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Um… You're welcome," he said. There were a few scattered 'thank you's in the crowd of people before Sportacus chimed in.

"Well, we'd better be off now. Bye everyone! Be safe while we're gone!" he said as he began walking back towards the forest. Robbie reluctantly followed and ignored all the cheering and 'good luck's coming from behind him. "Well, Robbie, are you ready?" Sportacus asked kindly. Robbie adjusted his backpack and sighed.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he muttered. They walked along in awkward silence for a moment before Sportacus spoke.

"I, uh… thanks for coming again, Robbie. I know it'll really make the kids feel safer and happier," he said.

"Oh. Um… sure. No problem," he said. They walked for about 10 minutes with small talk all along the way. Sportacus glanced at Robbie out of the corner of his eye. Robbie looked rather peaceful and happy just walking along in the forest and Sportacus blushed. He wasn't sure why he blushed, but his palms were suddenly sweaty and he didn't know what to say anymore. He really liked Robbie, and he felt like this was a perfect time to get closer to Robbie so they could be friends… but he didn't feel like he wanted to be just friends with Robbie. He wanted them to be more than friends, and he didn't understand the feeling. Sportacus was lost in thought and didn't realize Robbie stopped until Robbie grabbed his arm and Sportacus stopped too. He was about to say something when he realized why Robbie had stopped him. His blood ran cold and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He could feel something watching him, and he didn't like it. He could hear it making deep, gurgled guttural sound, as if it was choking on a thick, syrupy liquid. Like blood. He frantically looked around, trying to see the shadow but he couldn't. It was hidden somewhere and he didn't like that. He looked back at Robbie, and then thought of Marcus.

"Robbie…" he whispered. Robbie looked at him; his eyes wide and panicked. "Robbie, don't run or else it will chase you," he said. Robbie nodded and stepped closer to Sportacus. Suddenly, about a meter behind Robbie, Sportacus saw it. It was tall, with wings and red eyes, but he was too scared to make out any more details. "D…Don't move, Robbie… It's okay…" Sportacus whispered. Robbie's eyes got even wider and he started crying. The monster bent over and put its head right next to Robbie's neck. Robbie bit his lip to hold back a sob. It sniffed him for a minute, and then its long, forked tongue slipped out of its mouth and slithered around Robbie's ear. Tears sped down Robbie's face as he held his breath and waited for the monster to kill him. It made a disappointed growl, and then it flew away.

It took a whole minute before either of them moved. Robbie collapsed on the ground and sobbed openly while Sportacus's brain finally began to work and he realized what had happened. He kneeled next to Robbie and wiped the gooey saliva off of Robbie's head. "Robbie, it wasn't actually going to kill you, it just wanted to make you run so it could chase you," Sportacus whispered. Robbie sat up and smacked Sportacus's hand away while he tried to stifle his sobs. He mumbled something quietly about wanting to go home and his mother. Sportacus moved a hand back to Robbie's face, and to his surprise, Robbie didn't push it away. Sportacus wiped the tears off of Robbie's face and helped him stand up.

"Robbie… I understand if you want to go but… I have to find the source of these things to keep the town safe," Sportacus said, and then he began to walk, alone. He walked for about a minute before he heard footsteps and turned around.

"I'm not a coward, Sportacus! Besides, they'd all make fun of me if I went back… and I'd never be able to sleep with everyone screaming because they're being horrible mutilated and…" Robbie stopped, and then he cleared his throat. Sportacus smiled and wrapped Robbie in another hug, much to Robbie's dislike.

"Well, now we know how to deal with them in an encounter at least," Sportacus pointed out. Robbie nodded.

"I suspect they'll get more hostile as we get closer to the source of all of these things," Robbie said. Sportacus looked at him.

"How do you know so much about these things?" Sportacus asked. Robbie suddenly looked uncomfortable. The memory of his first encounter with one of the shadow monsters tried to surface, but he shoved it back down violently.

"My dad did research on them when I was a kid," he half-lied. Sportacus nodded, and then looked at the sky. Then he looked around the area they were in. It was a small clearing with trees on all sides.

"It looks like it's getting dark, and it's getting colder. We should probably stop and set up camp," Sportacus said. Robbie nodded in agreement. His face was ashen, and he was looking down at the ground, his brow furrowed in concentration. "…You okay?" Sportacus asked him. He nodded again but didn't look up. Sportacus took off his backpack and began to set up the tent. About 20 minutes later, he noticed something was very wrong. "Um… Robbie?" he asked. Robbie looked up from the fire he had started and was currently stoking.

"Yes?" he asked. Sportacus looked down sheepishly, refusing to make eye contact.

"I, uh… I forgot one of the sleeping bags."

"…_what_?!" Robbie seethed. Sportacus didn't look up.

"I… I only brought the pink one. I guess I was so excited that I just… I forgot it. Sorry, Robbie," he mumbled. He heard a stream of profanities, some of which he had never heard before, slip out of Robbie's mouth. "The pink one is pretty big! We could both probably…"

"No. No, no, no, nonononono. No way. I will sleep over there on the ground," Robbie interrupted him.

"You can't do that! It's too cold. You'll probably get hypothermia and_ die_."

"…you're just exaggerating so that I won't."

"I'm not. This forest drops to 30 degrees at night during the winter, and it is winter."

"….."

"And we'll both be really warm in there."

"No! No! NO!"

"I've heard hypothermia is really, really painful."

"Alright, FINE," Robbie gave in. Sportacus smiled.

"Well, I'll make some sandwiches and you get some more firewood, okay?" he said. Robbie sighed/grunted in an irritated way and then waddled off into the forest. Sportacus turned back to his sandwiches and his brow furrowed in thought. Suddenly he heard a thud and turned around. "Robbie, I…" his words got caught in his throat.

It was one of the shadow monsters, but instead of having two red eyes, it had one blue and one red. It had a bob tail and smaller, fluffier wings, and it also seemed a lot clumsier. Sportacus panicked as he spun around and the sandwich in his hand flew at it. The sandwich smacked its face dully and thudded onto the ground. It sniffed at the sandwich and then its forked tongue flicked out and tasted it. It made a satisfied grunt-like noise and deep-throated the sandwich.

"D…do you like that? You like the sandwich?" Sportacus asked it, grabbing the other sandwich and moving closer. It looked up at him and wagged its bob tail so violently that its entire body shook. Sportacus held out the sandwich and took another step closer. It chomped on the sandwich without hesitation, and then rubbed its head against Sportacus's hand. Sportacus laughed and rubbed its head affectionately, and then he went back to his sandwich-making. He was interrupted when suddenly Robbie ran back into the camp. He was screaming and crying, waving his arms everywhere and screaming wild profanities, most of which were again unfamiliar to Sportacus. His face was red and his breathing was rapid. The small shadow hid behind Sportacus.

"Robbie Robbie! What's the matter?!" he shouted, stepping forward and grabbing Robbie's arms. Robbie's high, panicked voice shrieked in several languages at once. Sportacus gently slapped a hand over Robbie's mouth and held him still, checking him over for any bruises or cuts. "What happened, Robbie?" he asked calmly, examining the small scratches on Robbie's face and the saliva around his ear. Robbie wouldn't calm down, so Sportacus did the only thing he knew how to do in this situation.

He hugged him.

After a moment, Robbie finally calmed down and his breathing slowed. Sportacus was about to speak up when Robbie tensed again. Sportacus suddenly remembered the small shadow behind him.

"Um… Robbie. The little one with the crazy eyes is nice, okay? I named him… um… Sandwich. He likes sandwiches," he said calmly. Robbie made a grunty contemplating noise and promptly passed out.

A/N: So! That was… exciting! Thanks to my sister for being my co-author and being fabulous, and I'll see y'all in the next chapter! Bye baiieeee


	2. Day Two

DAY TWO

Robbie woke up in the middle of the night and forced his heavy eyelids to open. He was inside the pink sleeping bag and something exceptionally warm was pressed against his back. His mind clouded with sleep, he pushed himself up on one elbow and lazily rolled his head to look behind him. It was Sportacus. The naïve, empty-headed elf was actually there. In the sleeping bag. Right next to Robbie. Right there. He actually had an _arm_ around Robbie's waist. Robbie's mind was suddenly clear and adrenaline pumped through him as he realized. He felt his common sense slowly slipping away and his face suddenly become very hot as he blushed profusely before swiftly and silently slipped out of the sleeping bag, and trying to pretend that he couldn't feel how cold he was suddenly, and trying to pretend that he hadn't noticed the content look on Sportacus's face, or the way the moonlight glistened on his wavy, blonde hair. He heard Sportacus shuffling behind him and turned around. The content look on his face was gone, and he looked as if he also felt the immediate, piercing cold. The sleeping elf pulled the bag up to his neck and shivered unconsciously. Robbie told himself that the feeling in the pit of his stomach was only guilt; nothing more, nothing less. If he wasn't so scared of leaving camp, he would've, but he was, so he didn't. Instead, he sat down, grabbed a stick, and poked at the glowing remains of what was their fire downcastly. He sat like this for a few hours before lying on the log as if it were a pillow and trying to fall asleep.

Sportacus woke up the next morning with the sun, feeling fresh and rejuvenated. Sitting up, he stretched and then hopped out of the bag before spotting Robbie on the cold, leafy forest floor, sleeping with the log under his stomach. He looked pale, and a thin layer of sweat covered his face as he trembled on the wood. Sportacus frowned sadly. Did he make the man that uncomfortable? He surely hadn't meant to.

"Robbie," he whispered, gently grabbing the tall man's shoulder and shaking it. "Robbie wake up."

"N-no, stop," Robbie whimpered in his sleep, rolling over, "Don't touch me."

Sportacus's eyes widened. He bit his lip and said the man's name again, shaking him harder. Robbie awoke with a start and jumped, eyes wide and breath uneven and short.

"Sp... Sportacus! What are you doing?!" he exclaimed accusingly. Sportacus looked sympathetic.

"Robbie, were you having a nightmare?" he asked. The other man was quiet for a moment as he calmed himself down

"Not that it's any of your business, but... yes." Sportacus's head tilted slightly.

"Would it make you feel better to talk about it?" he asked in a gentle voice.

"Remember when I said it's none of your business? That's because it isn't. Leave me alone."

"I just want you to be happy, Robbie," Sportacus said sadly. Robbie looked at him, once again surprised by the blatant way the innocent elf just shared his feelings. How could someone just say what was on their mind? He had never met anyone so complicatedly simple.

"It was about my dad," he said.

"It was about your dad? Didn't you say he studied these monsters?"

"Yes, among other things."

"So he was a scientist?"

"...you could say that."

"What else could I say?" Sportacus asked thoughtfully. Robbie shrugged again.

"You could say he worked illegally and far beyond his boundaries."

"...he did?"

"Yes. He went so far as to try and capture one of the creatures."

"He did?!"

"Yes. For the wish."

"Did he ever catch it?"

Memories burst out of dark, unvisited corridors and holes in Robbie's mind and squeezed his heart with their fiery claws. "No," he said stoically. Whether it was true or false Sportacus couldn't tell. "He never... he never caught one."

"... What happened in the nightmare?" Sportacus asked innocently.

"None of your business," Robbie said, his boundaries flying back up. Sportacus was disappointed at this but didn't say anything more. He started packing up the camp and Robbie did the same. Not a word was exchanged between them during this, or when Sportacus heaved the set onto his back and Robbie picked up his backpack (noticing in the back of his mind that it seemed a little heavier than yesterday) and they started walking.

It had been silent as they walked for a long time, Sportacus with his map and compass in hand and Robbie contemplating everything and anything to keep the dream out of his mind, and to keep what he had almost said to Sportacus out of his mind.

"I wonder why we haven't seen and of the monsters yet," Sportacus wondered out loud.

"I hope I never see one again," Robbie snarled, recalling his encounter with one the previous day.

"What happened when you went out for firewood yesterday?" Sportacus asked after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"When I was setting up camp yesterday and you came back screaming. What happened?"

"Oh... one of them surprised me, is all."

"Why didn't it chase you, though? You were running and screaming. I don't understand."

"...me neither," Robbie lied. He had learned then that the monsters could shapeshift into anything or anyone. He had learned that, if they wanted to, they could sit under a tree in a disfigured, crumpled, bloodied version of Sportacus and ask you to help, over and over, and you had to do something, even if you knew that the real Sportacus was making sandwiches at your campsite. He learned that the moment you grabbed its cold hands they could change into your father and raise his black cane over his head (the one with the rubber stopper) like he had, and he learned that they would swing it at your legs and arms while you ran, but they wouldn't kill you as long as you were playing their game. "Me neither," he repeated.

"... Are you okay?" Sportacus asked after a moment. Robbie looked at him.

"Yes... why?"

"You kind of... just drifted off. Were you thinking about the dream again?"

"Uh... yeah," Robbie lied. Sportacus looked at him sadly. He had never spent so much time with Robbie before, and now that he was he realized Robbie wasn't a happy person. He had always thought Robbie was at least content with himself, but now he realized Robbie was sad and alone. He felt like crying, but instead he hugged his friend, if the term "friend" could really describe their relationship. Robbie jumped at the sudden contact, and tried half-heartedly to push him away.

"Robbie why are you so sad? Everything is sad. I'm so sorry," he whimpered into the lithe man's chest. Robbie poked at Sportacus's head and then sighed.

"I'm not... I'm not sad. So you shouldn't be either," he said after a moment. Sportacus looked up at him with miserable, watery, sky-blue eyes.

"Don't feel bad for me, Sportacus, I'm fine."

Sportacus jerked away and looked at him. "Robbie!"

Robbie looked around, frightened at the elf's sudden emotion. "...Wha-"

"Robbie you said my name! You've never said my name before," Sportacus squealed, bouncing on his feet.

"Don't let it go to your head, Shortacus," Robbie said, striding forward. Sportacus trotted after him happily, giggling.

They had been walking for a long time, and after a while Robbie slowed down and Sportacus satisfied his unflinchingly rigid exercise lust by hopping in circles as they moved. It had been uneventful; save the occasional noise somewhere off in the forest. Robbie was lost in his thoughts by the time Sportacus stopped in front of him suddenly. Robbie nearly ran into him.

"What's going on?" he asked, peering around Sportacus's head. There was an elf around their age, with a red and orange outfit that matched Sportacus's. Instead of a hat, however, he had a gaping hole in the top of his head. Blood ran down his face, leaving trails that mixed with the tears that pooled around his eyes.

"Sportacus," the elf said in a deep, ghostly voice.

"...Mason," Sportacus whimpered, stepping forward. Robbie grabbed Sportacus shoulder as he made a sudden realization.

"Sportacus... it's not Mason," he said, recalling his own encounter the previous day.

"It's my brother," Sportacus said, tears flowing freely down his face. He took another step forward and Robbie placed both hands around the elf to keep him in place.

"Sportacus, no, it's one of those things. It's one of the monsters," Robbie said, digging his heels into the mud. Sportacus took another purposeful step forward, easily dragging the thin man behind him.

"Robbie, he's hurt. Look at him," Sportacus whispered, his words barely audible over the sounds of his quiet, breathy sobs.

"No... no, Sportacus please, it's not him," Robbie whined, wrapping his arms completely around Sportacus, pressing his chest against the elf's muscular back, and digging the heels of his shoes deeper in the soft earth. Sportacus was much stronger and dragged him along, closer to his brother.

"Robbie. M... my brother," he whimpered, "He's hurt." As he said this Marcus stretched his arms out toward the two, groaning. Robbie growled with exertion, and his arms started shaking from holding back the elf.

"Sportacus he's not your brother! What would your brother even be doing out here?" Robbie yelled. Sportacus stopped.

"Maybe he was coming to visit me," he said.

"Without any warning? Is that like him?"

"I don't... I don't know."

"Your brother is smart, right? He probably knows what these things are, so how did he get attacked by one?"

"Sportacus, please," Marcus whimpered, falling to his knees. Sportacus let out a cry and pushed Robbie away, taking a small step forward. Robbie fell into the mud and heard a grotesque squelching coming from his backpack as he hit the mud. He wondered what had been squashed.

"Robbie, look at him!" he exclaimed.

"It's not your brother! It's not your brother!" Robbie shouted over the quiet moaning of Marcus, sitting up. "He's one of them, Sportacus! Don't listen!"

Sportacus's heart clenched and his stomach heaved. He didn't know what to do; he had never had to make such a difficult, spontaneous, life-threatening decision in his life. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this wasn't his brother, but another, more primal voice was louder, and it thought that even if there was a small chance it was his brother, he should take the chance. But it could get both him and Robbie killed. But what if it was his brother? He realized suddenly that he was sobbing and whimpering and shaking.

"N... no!" he yelped after a moment, "You're not my brother!"

"Sp... Sportacus, why..?" Marcus whimpered, gurgling and coughing blood. He fell to the ground and was still. Sportacus turned away and let out a small cry, dropping his head in his hands.

Robbie stood up slowly and awkwardly, brushing mud off of his backpack, and watched as Marcus disappeared in a fog of shadows and red and blue lights. He stepped toward Sportacus, and awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder. Sportacus was still for a moment, and then he jumped into Robbie and sobbed openly, holding his friend close to him. He cried something unintelligible into Robbie's chest which was now thoroughly soaked with tears. Robbie was taken aback, but after a moment he slid his hands around the elf's shoulders.

"It's okay, Sportacus..." Robbie said, wracking his brain for something that might actually help.

"Why did it do that? Since when have they been able to shapeshift!?" Sportacus exclaimed, lifting his head to look at Robbie. Robbie looked down at him.

"I don't... I don't know," he was vaguely aware that he wasn't helping at all by saying 'it's okay' and 'I don't know.'

"Are... are you okay?" he asked instead, not that it was much better.

"My... my brother, Robbie... he was almost killed by one when we were kids. If it weren't for my mom, he'd..." Sportacus's voice drifted off into a series of quiet, pathetic sobs.

"...your brother is just fine though. He's probably at his home somewhere being happy and warm and doing elf things like... wearing a hat," Robbie tried. Sportacus nodded stiffly, and then hugged Robbie tighter. Robbie stood for a moment, then pulled himself closer to the elf and rested his head on Sportacus's shoulder. They stood like this for a long time, listening to the elf's quiet cries and the sounds of the animals around them. The animals suddenly went silent.

Sportacus lifted his head quickly. "What's g-going on?" he asked. Robbie looked around.

"...I don't know..."

"The animals stopped. Is there something h-here?"

"I don't... I don't know?"

Sportacus stepped away from Robbie and stood tall, looking around. He was a strong hero once again. For five minutes he stood still, listening for anything with his sensitive elf ears.

"Let's keep going," he said after a short time, and his voice and eyes were clear as if nothing had happened. Robbie nodded and followed Sportacus as he began trotting forward. Sportacus turned around frequently to make sure Robbie was still there, and Robbie struggled to keep up with the elf's short but quick and plentiful strides.

The next few hours were uneventful, save the eerie silence that seemed to follow them. Sportacus had noticed his underweight friend was struggling with the speed and slowed down a bit, but by the end of the day Robbie's legs were burning along with the dull ache in his feet and lungs. He leaned against a tree, panting, and looked over at the sunset.

"This is a good place to set up camp," Sportacus noted cheerfully, and then he pulled the pack off and set it down. He turned to Robbie, who was lying on a soft, leafy spot under a tree that he had found. He was still breathing heavily.

"Robbie, c'mon," he chuckled. "We didn't walk that much."

"Easy for... you to say," Robbie panted, listening to the silence that had followed them. A twig broke somewhere close. Both of them looked up quickly, and Sportacus was relieved to see it was only the small monster, Sandwich. It barked in a deep, wispy voice and smiled at them with a toothless grin. Robbie groaned softly and stood up.

"It's just Sandwich, Robbie! The nice one," Sportacus chirped.

"I don't trust any of these... _things_," Robbie said, pointing at it accusingly. It wagged it's short, bobbed tail and bounded to Sportacus's bag. It sniffed it.

"Careful Sandwich, that's my-" Sportacus was interrupted by Sandwich swallowing the bag whole in the space of one second.

"No! Sandwich!" Sportacus shouted, rushing over. He heard Robbie behind him.

"Make him spit it out!" he exclaimed. Sportacus looked behind him and saw the panic in Robbie's eyes. He turned back to Sandwich, who was scratching the back of his ear with his foot, much like a dog.

"Spit it out, Sandwich!" Sportacus said sternly. Sandwich tilted his head at Sportacus, his leg hovering behind his ear. "Sandwich," Sportacus started, reaching out towards Sandwich. Sandwich suddenly screamed a bloodthirsty scream, his eyes flashing a bright red, his tail sprouting suddenly, ears erupting from his head and fangs growing from his gums. Sportacus gasped as he realized this wasn't Sandwich and its lanky body jerked forward it and bit Sportacus's wrist, blood trailing from his mouth as he dragged his head away and flew into the forest. Sportacus cried out and fell backwards. Robbie was at his side.

"Robbie, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have trusted him!" Sportacus yelped, but Robbie didn't hear. He was busy ripping off his vest. Sportacus looked at his wrist, where blood was oozing from a deep gash. He moaned at the sight of the blood and clenched his eyes tightly, holding back tears. He felt hands on his arm and ripped it away, cringing at the pain it caused

"Sportacus sit still," Robbie said, grabbing Sportacus's arm and holding the vest around it tightly. He looked around for something to keep it on as Sportacus opened his eyes.

"R-Robbie," he whimpered, wincing as Robbie's hand ensconced his arm with his vest. Robbie shushed him and untied Sportacus's shoes. He took out the shoelaces and tied them around the soft material, now speckled with blood, and then sat back to admire his handiwork. Sportacus looked at it as well.

"...Robbie how did you..?" he asked, shocked. Robbie was not only terrible under pressure, but there's no way he could've thought that quickly on his feet in any situation ever.

"I watch a lot of survival shows," Robbie lied softly. It was getting harder and harder to lie to the elf. But Sportacus accepted this answer and sat up, prodding at his arm.

"Thank you, Robbie," he said, embracing him.

"It's fine, Robbie mumbled, half-heartedly pushing him away. He then added, "You need to get some real bandages on that though." He sounded concerned.

"I have some in my... in my bag," Sportacus said, sighing heavily. Why had he trusted the little monster?

"I might have some in mine," Robbie said hopefully, grabbing his backpack. He looked inside and his face quickly turned to shock.

"What is... what!" he shouted, throwing his backpack on the floor in a fit of rage. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, trying to suppress his pure anger as tears threatened to pour from his clenched eyes.

"What is what?" Sportacus asked softly, kneeling next to the backpack and looking inside. It was full of small woodland creatures, dead and maimed with blood and white flecks of brain matter dancing up and down the sides of the cloth. It made a disgusting squelching sound as Sportacus threw it away from him with a yelp, and it fell over, the intestines of rabbits and birds and one baby fawn spilling out over the grass. Robbie opened his eyes in time to see one rabbit roll out and land by his foot, its unborn child falling through a huge section that had been torn out of its stomach. He could swear its pink, lifeless, premature body moved and looked up at him.

Screaming, Robbie turned and took a few stumbling steps away from the pack before doubling over and dry heaving, his stomach attempting to vomit up the food that wasn't there. Sportacus covered his eyes and started sobbing openly. "The animals..." he cried. Robbie turned around and saw the fetus, staring up at him with glassy, dead eyes. Unable to look away, he stared at it while making a wide circle around the massacre and standing next to Sportacus.

"Come on," he whimpered, grabbing Sportacus by the armpits and trying to drag him away. Sportacus stood up slowly, his back to the bloodbath. He opened his watery blue eyes, now bloodshot from crying, and looked into Robbie's cloudy grey ones. They stared at each other for a while before Robbie began tugging Sportacus away from the carnage. Sportacus willingly followed and, without turning around, the two left into the woods.

They had been walking in a mournful silence for 10 minutes before Sportacus broke down again.

"This is all my fault, Robbie! What kind of hero drags his friend into the woods to find monsters that are terrorizing his people, and then trust one of them and lose his bag? I'm so sorry," he sobbed.

"No, Sportacus, it's not your fault," Robbie said, reaching for Sportacus's hand, but Sportacus pulled away.

"Let's just find somewhere to sleep tonight, and then I'm taking you back. And there's nothing you can say to change my mind," he said. Robbie bit his lip. The prospect of going back to his underground lair was certainly tempting, more than tempting even. He blushed with guilt and embarrassment. There was no way he could leave Sportacus here by himself while he sat in the comfort of his home and ate himself into oblivion. Things couldn't go back to the way they were… he couldn't take it anymore.

"No, Sportacus, it's too late to go back now. And besides, I'm not leaving you. We'll finish this together. Okay?" he said, grabbing Sportacus's head and forcing Sportacus to look at him. Sportacus stared silently into his eyes for a long time, before tearing himself away.

"Stop! Stop it! I can't let you do this! Did you see the animals? What if that happens to you? I don't want to be responsible for that! I don't want to see you dead, with your insides spilling out all over the..." Sportacus trailed off. He held his head in his hands and cried, his body being racked with sobs that he tried his hardest to hold in.

"Sportacus, plea-"

"No, Robbie! I'm taking you back! I don't want you to be hurt, I...I lo..." Sportacus stopped, and Robbie looked down at him. What was the elf trying to say? It sounded an awful lot like he was going to say those words. But he knew that was... it was what? Wishful thinking on his part, perhaps? No, that was ridiculous. Robbie was supposed to hate the elf, and supposed to make schemes to get him out of town. He found that, after a while, he couldn't hate the elf. He had begun to even... to even love the elf, but then he only hated himself even more. His schemes were slowly turning into silly acts for attention that he knew were destined for failure. And the worst part was he didn't mind the failure so much as long as he got to see Sportacus. He cringed at his own thoughts slightly and sighed.

"You what, Sportacus?"

What was Sportacus trying to say? 'I love you?' the words were pressing against his tongue, trying to get out. It would be so easy to say, and he didn't know why. Did he love Robbie? No, Robbie was... Robbie, and he was Sportacus. A villain and a hero. The villain never fell for the hero, not in any stories. That was just... unheard of. It was wrong, so taboo. But then why was it so easy to say? Sportacus told himself it was because he said it so much to others, like... like the kids. He loved them! But that was a different kind of love. Or was it? He felt confused, and lost. He settled on different words.

"I care about you, Robbie."

Robbie almost seemed disappointed, and he looked around for a moment. "I care about you too, Sportacus, and that's why I'm not letting you wander through here alone."

Sportacus found his voice again after a moment. "But Robbie, I know how to deal with them! I've encountered one before," he said, almost desperately," Why did you even want to come?"

Robbie thought of the endless amounts of research he had been forced to take, of the encounters he had had, of what had been lost to... to _them_. Why had he come? For the wish, wasn't it? His dad's voice, clear and raspy, echoed through his head and it said:

'_We can bring them both back, Robbie."_

A pang of guilt, self-loathing and fear spun through him so commandingly that he shuddered violently and tears welled in his eyes. He was turning into his father. His father, tall and proud, with his cane (the one with the rubber stopper on one end and the silver mushroom top on the other, of course, because the white one with the black stripes was never good enough for him. Never good enough for him. Never good enough for him) in one hand and a book in the other. Thickly framed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose and sweater vest tightly hugging his abdomen. His bright, cheery voice booming through the house as he arrived. 'Honey, I'm home!' he would say, and Robbie with his sister would rush down the hallway of their expensive retreat house and greet their father, sometimes smelling the musky, salty smell of beer on his breath, sometimes not. And he would lift up little Ronnie Rotten and give her a kiss, then he'd lift up her brother Robbie Rotten and give him a kiss as well. 'Ooh wow, Robbie, are you gaining weight?' he would joke. Robbie was never gaining weight, he was losing weight. He was horribly underweight as a child. His father would joke when things were happy. Before... before...

Sportacus instantly noticed Robbie's change in demeanor. "...are you okay?" he asked softly. Robbie looked up, tears in his eyes and his body shaking so hard that Sportacus thought he might fall over. He stepped forward and grabbed Robbie's hands, holding them against his blue-clad chest. Robbie's eyes drifted downward, searching the forest floor for something, before floating back up to meet Sportacus's.

"I'm not leaving you. We've already gotten so far, Sportacus, it would take much too long to go back. Think of what could happen in that time? They might enter LazyTown. And I'm not letting you wander through the forest alone, Sportacus. I know you're stronger than me, and more sensible, but there's no way you can take me back to town and go on without me. And-and think of how much more difficult it would be with one person! Remember that thing with your brother? What would've happened if-"

"Robbie, I... I... I don't want to fight with you. Let me sleep on it.'

"Well, I don't know what you're sleeping on because I'm obviously-"

"Robbie."

Robbie fell silent and followed Sportacus through the trees for a while, before finding one with a clump of large branches twisted together. Sportacus jumped on the lowest branch and climbed up to the platform that the branches made, and he sat on them, exhausted, and looked down at Robbie who he had expected to follow. Robbie was standing at the bottom looking helplessly up at Sportacus.

"Come on up, Robbie."

"...up there? Like... up the tree? You want me to climb up there? Are you crazy?"

"It's not that hard, just climb up."

Robbie grabbed the lowest branch and slowly, painfully pulled himself up. He sat here for a while.

"Just one branch at a time," Sportacus chirped.

"Just one brensh ata teeem" Robbie mocked quietly, standing up, almost falling, and grabbing on to the next branch. He tried to pull himself up but his arms were spent, so instead he just groaned. Sportacus sighed and moved down, grabbing Robbie by the arms and pulling him up. He pulled Robbie up to the clump of branches and sat down. It was past 8:08 and he was running low on energy.

They leaned against the trunk of the tree, their sides pressed together so as not to fall, and looked at the newly risen moon. The nighttime had always reminded him of Robbie, oddly enough, and his dark colors. He was more of a daytime kind of person himself, but he assumed Robbie was a night owl. A night owl and he was a bluebird. Mr. Night and Mr. Bluesky. There was no way he loved Robbie, just like there was no way Robbie loved him. His half-asleep mind drifted from thoughts like this to how nice he felt, pressed up against Robbie's side, his head slowly drifting towards the lithe man's shoulder. He thought of the wound in his arm. It seemed so warm, where Robbie had covered it. Robbie held his arm and put his own vest over it, and Sportacus smiled to himself at the memory of Robbie's spandex-clad nearly-bare chest, so squishy and unmuscular. He thought of what was under it. Robbie's fleshy tummy, his nonexistent six-pack. His thoughts floated lazily in this area before falling asleep.

Robbie sat, looking at the moon, his mind plagued with thoughts of what had happened, what could happen, what will happen. Sportacus's head had dropped to his shoulder, and it only made him worry more. Sportacus, out here alone, with the monsters? After what had happened with the little monster, after what had happened with his brother? His brows rose slightly as he realized how protective, almost matronly, he was becoming. He looked down at the elf, asleep against his shoulder, and sighed dramatically. He vowed that, no matter what, he would stay with Sportacus. If that meant facing a hundred more of those monsters, so be it. At this thought, his heart clenched uneasily. He tried to brush it off, in vain, and rested his head on Sportacus's. He was asleep an hour later.

A/N:: Hello everyone. I return. Here is a chapter for ya faces (just under 5,000 words) and I apologize for being absent for so long. You guys deserve better. I'll try to update as much as possible, but I'm not sure how often that'll be with school and all. I love all of you! Thank you those who have favorited, followed, reviewed, and also those who have just read. Please R&amp;R! I'd really appreciate it. My other sportarobbie fic should be updated soon, and I just posted a Halloween fic that will be done by the 30th. Thanks for reading, I appreciate it a lot


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